Need to speed up the connection of medical test results

According to Decision No. 316/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister, from 2025, testing will be connected at all medical examination and treatment facilities nationwide. This is a huge step forward to help patients save costs, and hospitals also save on re-scans and tests.

According to the Ministry of Health 's estimates, if the number of tests is reduced by just 1%, each year, the number of tests that do not need to be performed at hospitals alone will be about 4.75 million. On average, each test costs 50,000 VND, so hospitals recognizing each other's test results will help save more than 237 billion VND.

Interconnection will save hundreds of billions for patients

Gastroscopy and esophagoscopy at Quang Ninh General Hospital showed gastric ulcer, grade 1 gastric reflux, benign esophageal biopsy. For peace of mind, Mr. Tran Van Manh (70 years old, Quang Ninh) went to Viet Duc Hospital for a thorough examination. Here, when listening to Mr. Manh talk about his medical history and the results of his examination at the lower-level hospital, the doctor asked him to provide the results of the endoscopy and biopsy from Quang Ninh General Hospital so that he would not have to do it again. Because the lower-level hospital has implemented electronic medical records, Mr. Manh only needed to open the app on his phone to provide the doctor with his images and examination results. After the examination and based on the above imaging results, the doctor prescribed medicine for Mr. Manh to take.

Similarly, Ms. Pham Thi Nhung (60 years old, Vinh Phuc ) went to E Hospital for a bone and joint examination. The blood test and X-ray results from a lower-level hospital 3 days ago were also used by E Hospital, so she did not have to do the test and X-ray again, saving money. Dr. Nguyen Cong Huu, Director of E Hospital, said that the hospital used all the results of other diseases that patients brought with them when they came for examination, and did not require the patient to redo them, except for results that had expired clinically. Even the CT scan results from a provincial hospital were accepted.

At Bach Mai Hospital, many patients are transferred from other central hospitals and provincial hospitals. When they go, they bring their test and imaging results, which the hospital also uses and does not require the patient to redo. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co, patients only have to do it unless these results are clinically expired or require more in-depth tests and imaging. This is the goal of connecting digital transformation in healthcare, using and sharing data between medical facilities. This helps save a lot of costs, especially when hospitals support each other professionally, patients benefit from both expertise and cost reduction.

However, not all medical facilities and tests and imaging are connected. Mr. Tran Sy Hoa (Quang Ninh) said, both are provincial hospitals, when I went to another hospital in the province to examine pleural effusion, the doctor did not ask for the X-ray results at Quang Ninh General Hospital that had been done 1 day before and I had to do it again. When I went to the central hospital, I was also not able to connect the X-ray results from 5 days before and still had to do it again. Within just 1 week, I had 3 X-rays, which cost a lot of money.

Many test results from other hospitals are accepted by Bach Mai Hospital.

The list of interconnected services is not yet synchronized.

Speaking to CAND Newspaper reporters, Dr. Nguyen Ngo Quang, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Training (Ministry of Health) said that according to Decision No. 316/QD-TTg, from 2018, test results will be linked between special-class and class I hospitals, by 2020, the link will be implemented with hospitals in the same province or city, and by 2025, the test will be linked at all medical examination and treatment facilities nationwide.

In 2017, the Ministry of Health also issued a decision regulating the list of tests applicable for interconnection and recognition of test results for 3 specialties: Hematology 22 tests, biochemistry 17 tests, microbiology 26 tests. The time for each test to be valid (due to the metabolic cycle, physiology, ..., after this time, the test is no longer valid) is also specifically regulated.

In 2025, the Ministry of Health has a plan to standardize the set of paraclinical indicators. To date, out of a total of 2,431 paraclinical techniques, 2,018 techniques have been mapped, reaching over 80%. Expected to be issued in May 2025.

The Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Training said that currently, there are about 3,000 laboratories nationwide, but only more than 10% have been standardized. To connect test results between hospitals, the Ministry of Health will speed up the standardization of laboratories in the coming time. The implementation of electronic medical records helps to connect and share results. Data from the district level, if meeting standards, will also be accepted by higher levels. Thanks to that, patients do not need to spend millions, even tens of millions of VND on re-scans when going to higher levels.

According to Dr. Nguyen Ngo Quang, the reuse of test results, as well as re-examination appointment cards and electronic referral forms has not been implemented in many hospitals due to the lack of synchronous application of information technology, the list of interconnected services is not yet complete, and the data coordination system is in the pilot phase. To overcome this, the Ministry of Health is accelerating digital transformation in hospitals, completing electronic medical records by September this year, at which time it will help to connect data between hospitals, test results and imaging will be interconnected, helping to save huge costs for patients.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/y-te/can-day-nhanh-lien-thong-ket-qua-xet-nghiem-y-te-i767583/